Second Sunday of Easter
Jesus brings peace, but on this Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church celebrates another powerful gift the Lord bestows—He comes with mercy.
I want to highlight three instances where the Resurrected Christ offers the gift of mercy.
During Jesus’ Passion, Peter denied Jesus and the Apostles had almost all scattered. In His greatest time of need, Jesus experienced not their support, but rather, he felt the pain of betrayal and abandonment. It was a fearful time for the Apostles, that’s for certain, but at the time after His death, they also knew how they acted out of that fear. Jesus’ first expression of mercy is in seeking them out and extending them peace. The Resurrected Christ brings us peace. The Gospels recount it again and again, as we hear the powerful echo of His words: “Peace be with you.” And, how fitting those words are to His disciples who experienced the deep sorrow and shock of watching their Teacher and their Lord be handed over to sinners and be crucified. In the midst of their grief, confusion, even their doubt, the Risen Jesus offers that message of peace. Jesus’ mercy occurs most beautifully with Peter. After Peter’s three-fold denial, Jesus takes Peter aside and shows him mercy by reconciling and asking Peter three times: “Do you love me?” Jesus models for us what it should look like for any relationships in our lives that have been damaged or where there is tension. He walks up to them, being the first to extend the greeting of peace, and then addressing the matter directly—all carried out from His profoundly compassionate and merciful heart.
Secondly, when the Apostles were gathered in the locked house, Jesus came to them and “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” In this action, Jesus bestows upon the Apostles the power to forgive sins, what the Catholic Church regards as the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. It’s that Sacrament that countless men and women throughout the centuries have experienced the depths of God’s mercy through confessing their sins to a priest—that even in their sorrow, shame, and even despair, God shows to us His love and mercy, and we can hear those powerful words: Your sins are forgiven. I encourage all the faithful to make good use of the great gift of mercy that we have in the Sacrament of Reconciliation by celebrating the Sacrament with honesty, and not overly focused on yourself, but on how good and merciful God is in reconciling us sinners.
Lastly, Jesus shows an act of mercy toward Thomas. Thomas doubted the others when they claimed Jesus appeared to them, and he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” And, a week later what does Jesus do, but walk up to Thomas and give him the sign, the precise evidence that he wanted. Jesus says to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” That’s an act of mercy.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we live in the light of our Lord’s Resurrection, and we are gracious recipients of His mercy. We turn to Jesus with all confidence and peace, and saying: Jesus, I trust in you.
Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections